The Weekly Glance – E3 Part 1: Nintendo

E3 is just a few weeks away. The largest gaming convention of the year, which takes place in L.A., starts on Monday the 4th of June and G3AR will be there to bring you all the coverage. As the countdown to the convention begins The Weekly Glance is going to take a quick look at the major companies over the next couple of weeks, starting today with Nintendo.

What can we expect from Nintendo this year? Well, looking back over the last couple of years we had the announcement of the 3DS in 2010. 3D with no glasses on a handheld was considered to be an incredible and bold move from Nintendo. The 3DS has sold millions of units, surpassing the original DS, but it did struggle with game releases initially. That has changed recently with some top games (Kid Icarus, Mario Kart 7) being released and more great titles on the cards for the rest of the year. Nintendo have already promised some new titles to be showcased at E3 and none is more exciting then New Super Mario Bros 2. The 3DS continues to impress and more game announcements and some new features will be applauded for sure.

The Wii is nearing the end of its lifetime but has hit back with some of its best titles in the last year (Skyward Sword, Xenoblade). The titles are getting fewer and fewer but Nintendo may just have a couple more games left before they unleash the Wii U on the world towards the end of 2012. The Wii perhaps focused on the casual gamer for too long, but the recent ‘core’ games have us excited to see what the Wii U will provide in the aftermath.

Speaking of the Wii U, the new console was announced at E3 last year and the hype has been kept at little more than an undercurrent up until now. Very few concrete details are still known about the hardware and just what angle Nintendo will be taking with the new console. Even the games for the console are slightly unknown, which has us excited if not a little apprehensive. We know that the console comes with a control which has a screen on it so dual screen gaming is a given, but just how it will be implemented in the games is still a mystery. That should all change during E3 as we will be getting a chance first hand with the Wii U, its games and functionalities so do not miss out on that.

A ‘possible’ game list was leaked not so long ago with titles comprised mostly of ports, which has us wondering if Nintendo has something up their sleeve and are going to shock and awe us at E3. We hope so and think that something big will be happening at the Nintendo conference this year at E3. Nintendo are known for keeping their best franchises going and an announcement of one of the big series’ as a launch title for the Wii U may just be enough to convince us. Time will tell, but what is sure is that Nintendo, who outsold both Microsoft and Sony with its Wii, will already have a head start on the competition in the “next-gen” console… or will it?

Another reminder that G3AR will be covering the entire E3 convention. We will be there at the conferences and testing out all the games to bring you as much feedback as possible. In the meantime let us know what you think will happen at the Nintendo conference. What you hope to hear and what you think you will hear. We WANT your ideas and thoughts. E3 is on its way, and we hope you share our excitement.

As part of The Weekly Glance feature over the next couple of weeks we will also include one of our staff’s thoughts and predictions. Here is Dawid’s for the Nintendo conference:

I’m pretty optimistic as to what Nintendo has to announce at their show, though I’d be glad if the rumoured name-change takes place for the ‘ambulance siren’ Wii U. I think we’ll see a Starfox Wii U game being shown but I have this feeling that we’ll see something from Retro Studios, the makers of Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country – they’re far too quiet. Expect some major first-party announcements outside of the recently-announced New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS and I anticipate that we’ll hear something surrounding the new IP from Shigeru Miyamoto.  If there is one conference to keep your eyes on this year it’s Nintendo’s. They might not always perfect their ideas but they always lead the industry in that department.